1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to an apparatus for and a method of analyzing video contents, which are effective when a specific signal section included in the video/audio data is detected, and the video/audio data is edited.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a television broadcasting signal, a commercial (CM) break is provided at a boundary between programs or in the middle of a program. Now, it is assumed here that a section in which one commercial is broadcast is defined as a commercial section, and a section in which a plurality of commercials are consecutively broadcast is defined as a group commercial section. As a method of detecting the commercial section in a recording/reproducing apparatus, there is a method of detecting a black frame between a program main part and a commercial section, and detecting, in a group commercial section, a black frame present between commercial sections adjacent to each other. It is possible to skip an entire group section by referring to a detection timing of a black frame, and reproduce only a program main part.
However, the number of frames of the black frames differs depending on the program in some cases, and when a plurality of commercial sections are present consecutively, an error is caused in the skip length in some cases, and an unnecessary image is mixed with the program main part in some cases.
Further, as a method of detecting a commercial section, the following method has been developed (for example, US 2006/0263062A1). A section in which a sound level is equal to or below a threshold for a predetermined time is determined to be a silent part by using a sound signal, and it is determined whether or not a time interval between a silent part and the next silent part is a multiple of a certain time (A: for example, 15 s). If the time interval is a multiple of the certain time (A), detection of a silent part is counted. Further, if the counted number of the silent parts is a threshold (B) or more, section information is set for each of the first and last appearing silent parts. However, a time span of the silent part (a section in which the sound level is below a threshold) is not always constant. For this reason, when a time interval between a silent part and the next silent part is measured, a setting position of a reference time in the silent part becomes a problem. That is, depending on which of a top position and an end position of the silent part is set as the reference time, a result of the measurement of the time interval becomes inaccurate in some cases. When the measurement result is inaccurate, the distinction between the commercial section and the program main part becomes inaccurate.
In the prior art technique, in the middle of a continuously reproduced image in which a commercial section is skipped, an unrelated frame image (residual image of the commercial section) is seen at a part in some cases. Thus, there is a demand for further accurate detection of a specific section such as a commercial section and the like.